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Speak a little Italian - Ducati style of course :-)

An interesting topic came up on the Ducatisti forum a while ago when one of the members raised the question of how a number of Ducati motorcycle related words and terminology should be pronounced correctly...

"I have heard many different, most probably incorrect, pronunciations of the Italian words applied to our bikes. I would appreciate it if someone who speaks Italian would inform us of the correct pronunciation and meaning of the these words.

The words of interest to me are Ducati, Multistrada and Testastretta. For example, is it "Du cat e" or "Duc cot e" or something else? I assume Ducati is a Family Name and therefore has no meaning. Is that correct?

It seems to me if we are going to ride an Italian bike we should know how to speak about it correctly."

And the answers to those questions kindly provided by fellow Ducati rider 'Paivi'...

Ducati is, indeed, the family name, so does not have a meaning. It follows the normal Italian pronunciation rules, so the stress is in the second to last syllable (du-cah-ti).

Multistrada (effectively, 'many roads', although it should be 'moltestrade'). Again, the stress is in the second to last syllable, so 'mul-ti-strah-de).

Testastretta means 'narrow head', no doubt somebody with mechanical knowledge can explain that one. Again, the stress is in the second to last syllable, 'stret'; it's pronounced with a short 'e', so only stressed, not lengthened.

The one that gets on my nerves is 'Desmosedici'... It goes against the standard rule of 'second to last syllable', so instead of 'di', it's the 'se' that is stressed and lengthened, so it's 'des-moh-seeeeh-ditchy'. The reason is that the 'dici' comes from 'dieci' for ten, and it's the 'se' (for 'sei', i.e., six) that is the important bit. The numbers 11-17 in Italian being effectively: one and ten (undici, i.e., uno e dieci), two and ten (dodici, i.e., due e dieci)... six and ten (sedici, i.e., sei e dieci), so it makes no sense to stress the 'dici', as that's shared by all the numerals but the one that says how many above ten it is.

Chiaro?Ducatista non si diventa, si nasce!

Desmodromic - the term desmodromic is derived from two Greek roots, desmos (controlled, linked) and dromos (course, track).The Desomodromic valve system was invented by Dr. Fabio Taglioni. Desmodromic valves explained

Panigale - "Pan-ee-gah-lee", is the name of an area in Bologna, Italy called Borgo Panigale. The area of Bologna where the first ever Ducati factory was set up.

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